Pegasus
Pegasus is the great white winged horse of legend, and the son of Medusa. Background The great, white, winged horse that was born from Medusa when her head was cut off by Perseus. Pegasus could only be captured and tamed by use of a golden bridle. Athena gave this bridle to Bellerophon to help him in his task of killing the Chimaera--a fire-breathing beast with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a great serpent. Later, Bellerophon tried to ride Pegasus up Mount Olympus, but the winged horse threw him off down the mountain and escaped. Bellerophon did not live happily every ever. He was doomed to spend the rest of his life as an outcast, lame and shunned by all.KQC, 2nd Edition, pg 497 Graham encountered Pegasus after he accidentally threw the djinn's bridle on the great snake in the cliffs above Kolyma.KQC, 2nd Edition, 497 The Enchanter in Kolyma had turned the horse into a viper after he had refused to be his steed. The snake had then be set to guard a small, damp cave. Within it was set the second of three magical keys.KQC, 2nd Edition, 83 Graham intended to kill the snake using a magic sword he had received from the genie. He knew the weapon would rid him of the menace. Graham was more of a fencer than a hack-and-slash type who triumphs through brute strength. He knew to dispatch the snake would take only a flick of his wrist, a flick of a moment. However, Graham had forgotten about the Leather Bridle he had draped over the sword's hilt. With a swift motion King Graham made to grab the hilt and swung the blade through the air, so to slice the head from the serpent's body. His hand grabbed the bridle's silver bit instead, and still thinking he held a sword, he flicked it through the air. In surprise, Graham let go of the bridle, and he threw the bridle at the snake by mistake.KQC1E, pg 78 Graham broke the enchantment magically transforming the snake into a winged horse..Narrator (KQ2): "You toss the leather bridle onto the coiled snake. Instantly, there stands before you not a snake, but a beautiful winged horse wearing the bridle!" The horse then gave Graham a magic Sugar Cube in thanks.Pegasus (KQ2): "Thank you, kind sir, for saving me. An evil enchanter turned me into a snake when I refused to be his steed. To repay you, here is a magic sugar cube, that will guard against poisonous brambles." It then flew away. Pegasus has a very independent nature, and will not allow riders on his back.The winged horse has a very independent nature. It doesn't want a rider on its back. It then flew away paying Graham no attention.Narrator (KQ2): "The horse is flying away, and pays no attention to you." Stone statues of Pegasus lie outside the Desert Temple in Serenia, and seem to guard the crumbling temple. Personality and traits The winged horse has a very independent nature. It doesn't want a rider on its back. He is a handsome white horse, with beautiful wings of delicate white feathers. The leather bridle is around the winged horse's head.Narrator (KQ2): "This is a handsome white horse! It has beautiful wings of delicate white feathers. The leather bridle is around the winged horse's head. See also Pegasus (KQGS) Behind the scenes Though its name is not mentioned in KQ2. The The Official Book of King's Quest and The King's Quest Companion confirmed that the horse is indeed Pegasus. There are a number of sources for the 'throwing a bridle' story, many of which appear in Andrew Lang's fairy books and mythology books. One Romanian fairy tale known as The Fairy Aurora''http://fairytalesandfolklore.com/tale.php?tale=247 (which appears in Andrew Lang's Violet Fairy book from Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, which he calls ''The Fairy of the Dawn), the Hero Petru is tasked with throwing a bridle over the head of several "Welwa" (a monsterous beast depending on the source, which is either similar to the ugly beast that becomes a unicorn seen in KQ8, or a giant worm/snake, of some sort). When he throws the bridle over each of the beasts head, each creature turns into a beautiful horse. Another detail of the story, is that at one point Petru is ordered by the first of the enchanted horses (a flying horse no less) to go into the sky and chop of the head of a dragon worm/snake and put the bloodied blade in his sheaf before landing back on earth. Hence the source of the 'snake sword' in KQ2! An Irish fairy tale, The Lady Witch speaks of a witch that throws a magic bridle on a man and rides him all night.http://oldmooresalmanac.com/news-topics/the-arts/even-more-rescued-irish-fairy-tales.html The King's Quest Companion alludes to this or a similar story as well, see Bridle and in witches: There is a belief, not so common anymore, that a wicked witch can can throw a magic bridle over someone's head and turn the person into a horse. The witch then rides the unhappy person a long distance to some witches' gathering, and rides back in the morning. The victim soon becomes ill and weary from lack of sleep and died. A number of folktales exist that tell how some victims were able to escape this fate.KQC, 2nd Edition, pg 447 The encyclopedia chapter also references the Greek story that Pegasus was born from Medusa, which appears to be the inspiration for why he was turned into a snake in the game. The encyclopedia chapter also points out the connection between the magic bridle used to restore Pegasus and the story of Bellerophon which the same bridle was used to capture and ride the winged horse. The Greeks and Romans said that the great winged horse Pegasus could only be tamed if it were wearing a certain magic bridle.KQC, 2nd Edition, pg 447 It was such a bridle that Belepheron used. It should be mentioned that in the above legend, Belepheron used Pegasus to reach a cave on the top of a mountain where the chimaera lived in order defeat it (a creature that is a cross between a lion and a snake, and other animals)http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=shaw&book=greeks&story=horse Which could be the inspiration for the Top of the Mountain iself, and yet another snake reference. However, the puzzle is still considered to have one of the more obscure puzzle solutions in the series, requiring several leaps in logic (even with fore-knowledge of Medusa & Pegasus in mythology) or dumb accidental luck on the part of the player. The latter is actually satirized in the novelized section of the Companion (Graham attempts to slay the snake, but accidentally throws the bridle instead). This is actually a humorous nod to a previous situation where Graham did nearly the same thing with the Dragon in KQ1 (going to throw the knife, but accidentally throwing water at the dragon). However, as the novel is also intended to be a 'guide', in both cases its a reference to both solutions offering the player a chance to try both. The Official Book of King's Quest further explains; If you know mythology, you'll probably know what to do with the snake and a bridle... It further explains, that the reader might ask what kind of nonsense is this (thinking it odd); however, readers of Greek mythology would know that a winged horse, named Pegasus, sprang fully grown from the head of Medusa (a woman with snakes for hair) when she was slain. So there is a link between winged horses and snakes. It's also worth noting while Official Book of King's Quest refers back to the Pegasus story as the hint to solving the puzzle, it doesn't necessarily say that this 'particular horse' is necessarily Pegasus. But later sources would confirm that the horse is indeed Pegasus. King Graham can pet the horse.Narrator (KQ2): "The beautiful white horse lets you stroke its velvety white nose." Graham can attempt to get on the horse, but unsuccessfullyThe white horse is much too big and strong for you to hold it.. The winged horse statues in KQ5, are also referred to as Pegasus.Narrator (KQ6): "Stone statues of Pegasus guard the old, crumbling temple." A winged horse like either Pegasus or Night Mare can be seen in inside the Castle of the Crown.Narrator (KQ6): "A galloping horse adorns the north wall." Pegasus (unofficial) *Pegasus (unofficial) References Category:Characters (KQ2) Category:Legendary characters Category:Winged horses Category:Snakes Category:Characters (TKQC) Category:Characters (KQ5) Category:Characters (TOBOKQ) Category:Characters (KQT) Category:Named horses Category:Companion references